This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/910,102, filed Aug. 2, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,842), which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/942,517, filed Aug. 29, 2001 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,770,854), the entire disclosure of each of which is incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates generally to electric blankets.
Electric blankets typically include a heating element that extends through the blanket and through which electric current passes to generate heat. The heating element is disposed within passageways formed in the weaving process.
While not used in electric blankets, scrim laminate blankets tend to be very comfortable. FIG. 1 shows a prior art scrim laminate blanket 10. Blanket 10 includes a scrim layer 12 sandwiched between a pair of foam layers 14. As should be understood in this art, scrim is an open weave or knit fabric, typically of synthetic yarn, used primarily to improve the structural integrity of a blanket assembly. During manufacturing, a laminating line typically draws the scrim layer and foam layer together adjacent to a flame, thereby bonding the layers together so that a foam layer covers both sides of the scrim layer. From the laminating line, a flocking range applies oriented fibers 16 to one side of the blanket. An additional pass in the flocking range applies the oriented fibers to the other side of the blanket.
The present invention recognizes and addresses disadvantages of prior art constructions and methods.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent same or analogous features or elements of the invention.